Schools told NOT TO TELL PARENTS if someone tests positive for Covid

[Charliede1182]

Parents of children at school need to know this.
I am in Scotland but would not be surprised if the same applied elsewhere in the UK given the similarities in approach generally.
I have an underlying health condition placing me at high risk of severe illness/death were I to contract the infection, and contacted my child's Edinburgh primary school the week she returned, seeking assurance that parents would be notified immediately should anyone at the school test positive.

The deputy head sought specific guidance on this matter from Health Protection Scotland and was told that should anyone attending or working in the school report a positive test, staff were NOT ALLOWED to tell parents, but should instead arrange a meeting with HPS who would then advise on disclosing the infection to the small number of people whom they believed to have had direct contact with the infected person.

This means that the majority of families would not receive this potentially life saving information which would allow them to make their own risk assessment based on individual circumstances.

This practice is reminiscent of the conduct of authorities in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic, whose actions to conceal the outbreak rather than share the information contributed to its rampant spread.

Alerting families to the presence of covid in the school would not compromise the confidentiality of the infected individual(s), as no names or identifying details need be disclosed.

On a personal level I feel very strongly that it should not be up to someone in an office at HPS, in granting or withholding permission for the schools to alert parents to the presence of infection, to essentially decide whether I live or die, and as a matter of wider public interest as I am sure there are many parents currently sending their children into schools in the belief that should someone at the school test positive they would be immediately notified, when this is not the case as per HPS policy.

How on earth can it be ok to send out a group call if someone has headlice, but not an infection that has killed tens of thousands in the UK alone?

We need some kind of system to allow parents to find out if a school has covid without relying on the state, & if anyone has any ideas or if anything like this exists already I would really love to know.

Wow! That is not on. I am pregnant, have diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. I NEED to know if my children have been around covid!! I am not happy with this at all.

Our school has just the opposite. If anyone tests positive all persons who have been within their bubble for longer than 15 minutes must be notified personally by the end of the school day. These people are quarantined for 7 days and must have a covid test to be allowed to return.
All others, students in other classes, teachers, parents of younger students, etc. must get an email within 24 hours. Even though my child is distance learning I get a notification every time a child or teacher attending in person tests positive. The person is not identified, but the grade level is.

It’s called data protection, and yes, of course to be of any use (ie which class the child is in) you would have to disclose enough data in a primary school for absolutely everyone to know exactly who has covid 19. Headlice letters go out to the whole school - bloody useless information if your child has had no contact with anyone with headlice, as you should be alert to the risk of headlice all the time, anyway, so the letters are just reminders to parents that they should be paying attention.

This would be an absolutely solid reason not to send DS in. DH is vulnerable and we are BME. I'll be emailing the school to see what their stance on this is.

It probably means not giving out specific names in case of twats targeting families. Like they don't tell you which child has headlice.
I've already seen threads on FB when it talks about so many cases in a specific area- the Neanderthals crawl out saying "give us the address" etc.

But you will be told if someone your child has been in direct contact with tests positive. Why do you need do be told if a p1 tests positive and your child is in p7. They won’t have been mixing. Unless your going to shield your not going to get the life threatening information you require as that’s the risk going out and about in the community.

@GeorgiaGirl52 is that Scotland? Not sure why they are going against government policy of 14 days quarantine and only to get a test if you have symptoms.

I also work in a school and live in Scotland and I agree with the public health guidance on this. I think you may have got the wrong end of the stick here.

If someone in the school tests positive a letter is given to all pupils and staff, a text is also sent out, then those who need to isolate are contacted directly by test and protect.

This is as it should be, school office staff are not clinicians, nor are we trained in all aspects of who needs to isolate/get a test.

If someone at your child's school is positive, you will be told there is a case in school, but you will not be told if it is a pupil or staff members or which class they are in.

4 schools in my area have had a case and that is what happened each time

If your child isn’t a contact why would you expect to know? This is getting beyond a joke now.

This is the letter that gets given out

This practice is reminiscent of the conduct of authorities in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic, whose actions to conceal the outbreak rather than share the information contributed to its rampant spread

It really isn’t

"Bubbles" are notified but school will not divulge specific details to parents - it's a medical condition even though it's COVID and therefore illegal to go broadcasting someone else's medical details to others. Proper steps will be taken to protect those who need to isolate or test, without stating who has or hasn't got it.

Track and trace, not a panicked free-for-all! Makes sense to me!

I’m not sure what the difference Of knowing would make? Would make you nervous for 2 weeks for probably nothing, and unless you isolate form your own kids not sure what you could do?

Bastards. It's becoming very North Korea like.

The school I work in wouldn’t even name the child that had chickenpox to me even when I was pregnant... just a generic email saying chicken pox is going around, speak to MW but we can’t say which child due to data protection 🙄

Test and protect will do their job. I say this as some one isolating this week because test and protect have been in touch. Very thorough.

I’d imagine it’s a way to prevent people going onto social media and putting long, melodramatic posts with CAPITAL LETTERS as a flourish on there in an attempt to incite panic and perhaps just a bit of chaos. Odd that the OP for posts like that never seem to return too 🤔🤔

We have the world beatomh test and track !!

This is what was happening before lockdown, I know someone who worked in a school where there was a parent and child with covid (skiing trip) and the staff were warned not to tell the other parents. It took days and days to get the tests done, Public Health England didn't disclose widely and people found out through gossips and FB posts eventually. I was amazed at the time, but the feeling was that everyone would panic, so best not tell then til they had decided what action to take.

[quote mrs2468]@GeorgiaGirl52 is that Scotland? Not sure why they are going against government policy of 14 days quarantine and only to get a test if you have symptoms.[/quote]
Not Scotland. Religious school. Exempt from some state regulations.

When there was a case in my area the local press had a copy of PHS's letter within hours so it spread like wildfire. It was a good thing too as the letter was extremely clear and prevented mass panic... Oh and I'd say there's precisely zero chance of children actually not telling their parents.

The school don’t have the right to share personal health information in a way that could potentially identify an individual. There’s a formal tracing process in place for those who need to self isolate, they contact you if they need to.

Did that come from the Head or Governors.. Highly unlikely. Its hogwash utter bullshit. You'd be fired for not informing those concerned.

I hope to heavens we don't get told if some other child tests positive Unless there's reason to think my child was in close contact, it is none of my business what anyone else's test result was. I feel outraged at the idea of being told.